Re: Rutan spaceplane

On Wed, 23 Apr 2003 KH.Ranitzsch@t-online.de wrote:

> Brian Burger schrieb:
> > Cool stuff here - Burt Rutan (of Voyager & other
> > interesting aircraft) has rolled out a complete spaceplane system
> which might 
> > win the X-Prize by the end of the year...
> > 
> > http://www.msnbc.com/news/902224.asp?0sl=-44
> > 
> > .. but my first thought at seeing the pics of the two-part vehicle
> was,
> > "Dog, if Jon produced a model that funny-looking, nobody'd buy it
and
> we'd
> > all have said how 'unrealistic' it looked!"
> > 
> > Real life is stranger than fiction...
> 
> If I read the article correctly - there is a fair bit of hype - it is
> not a spaceplane as most people understand the word, namely that it
can
> reach orbit and stay there. It just can climb above the athmosphere
and
> drop back, like, say, the old X-15. 

It's a suborbital vehicle rather than a "true" orbital spaceplane, true.
It's still a significant achievement - AFAIK all the USAF/NASA X-planes
have been retired, so Rutan's is the only vehicle working this sort of
mission. Likewise the first private venture of this sort to get this
far.

It's also still a crazy looking animal, with that bumblebee body &
struts
and winglets everywhere! Trust Rutan to discard convention once again!

The X-Prize doesn't require actual orbital flight to win, just
suborbital
to (I think) 300 SM with two people on board, and a 2nd flight within
two
weeks of the first.

Brian.